HOUSEHOLD energy bills could double to £2,500 a year in an “unstoppable” rise driven by the £200 billion fight against climate change, a market expert warned yesterday.

Bills could rise from the current £1,215 average for gas and electricity to £2,472 a year. []

Mark Todd, of energyhelpline.com, said rocketing prices will send costs for hard-pressed families and the elderly into the “stratosphere”.

He said consumers will have to pick up the tab for new windfarms, nuclear power plants and the networks needed to support them.

Mr Todd’s worst-case scenario forecast means bills could rise from the current £1,215 average for gas and electricity – so-called dual fuel bills – to £2,472 a year within 10 years. He spoke out as five of the biggest energy firms in Britain told MPs that energy bills will rise by up to 25 per cent over the next decade.

Yet campaigners Consumer Focus said that over the past seven years alone domestic dual fuel bills have soared 124 per cent – from an average £543 a year. Mr Todd said: “Both the cold spell and rebound in the economy are contributing factors to wholesale gas prices rising by 56 per cent in the past three months. It’s therefore no surprise that five of the big six energy companies have warned MPs that domestic bills will continue to rise.

“There seems to be an almost unstoppable upward trend with prices creeping up remorselessly. When price drops come they tend to be small, when price rises come they tend to be big.”

The Government is shortly expected to announce a consultation on reforming the energy market.

And on Monday the Climate Change Committee quango laid out a blueprint for cutting carbon emissions which it admitted would require investment of about £150 billion in energy infrastructure up to 2030.

Mr Todd said: “The year’s price rises are only the tip of the iceberg.

“An unpalatable cocktail of green taxes, power station investment, a crumbling grid and dwindling gas supplies is set to send prices into the stratosphere.

“Energy bills are many homes’ biggest expense. UK consumers must shop around for a better deal.”

Head of energy at Consumer Focus, Audrey Gallacher, said: “It is up to the energy industry to show that any price rises are fair. It must be easy for customers to find the best tariff, switch easily and be confident they are paying a fair price.”

Energy UK, which speaks for the major suppliers, last night urged the public to make homes more energy efficient.